Omari Young, on sealing the net, supporting his team, and serving a future on Bay St.

Rams men's volleyball player Omari Young remembers his 2018 rookie season like it was yesterday, but if he has to choose one moment that stands out, it's the team's back-to-back games on a weekend in February of the 2018-19 OUA season.

He recalls the roaring cheers of fans in the bleachers, and the rubber scent of volleyball on his hands. The sweat beads, salty on the players' foreheads. And yet at the time, the cheers sounded as faint as white noise. He wasn't thinking about the familiar smell of the ball, or the perspiration escaping from his headband. Every other aspect of the game paled in comparison to the energy he felt from the Rams' side of the net that day.

"I think we all tried to focus on our teammates and block out external stuff," Young says, reminiscing, "You have your family on the court, your six guys, and you're all focused on the next point, taking it one by one."

The team won both games in five sets that weekend against Waterloo and Guelph. Incidentally, they also had two high school prospects cheering in the stands those days, both of whom stuck around for the winning team's post-game celebrations that night and signed with the Rams the following year.

Young wasn't too far ahead of them in his athletic career at the time, as a first-year student and the team's "young guy".

Now in his fourth year and studying Business Management in school, the twenty-one year old hopes to make new memories this season with the same team and a different set of guys — this time, as a seasoned player.

"More than half the team hasn't played an OUA game before, and I went from being a second year to one of the oldest players, which is really weird," Young says, "but I know how it feels to be new and we try to make [the rookies] feel welcome just like the older guys did for us back in the day."

Along with his new leadership responsibilities, Young says volleyball has equipped him with self-discipline, the ability to work on a team, and other transferable skills and opportunities that will be useful after graduation.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns and cancelled OUA season in 2020-21, Young kept up his athletic training independently at home. He relied on at-home programs from his trainer, bodyweight and basement-gym exercises and a sponsorship with protein drink company Milk2Go to stay focused until he could get back on the court.

And as much as he's developed an athletic career through volleyball, Young says that being an athlete has helped him get his foot in the door in the workforce as well. This past summer, Young worked as an intern at TD Bank and plans on going back again next year as well.

"I hope to one day work in corporate law or in business on Bay St.," Young says, with the same humble, yet determined confidence that he exudes before walking into a volleyball game and winning the match.

"Playing any varsity sport looks good on resumes and taught me how to work with a team and know my role while still offering support to those around me, which is applicable in the workplace," he says.

Still, before he trades suiting up in his uniform at the MAC for an actual suit in the Financial District, the student-athlete has a few goals for his last years as a U SPORTS athlete.

The first is to play in the OUA men's volleyball Final Four Championships, which Young has a good feeling about this year, given the looks of the league and the strength of his own team.

The second is to fulfill his new responsibilities in a leadership role on the team.

"I want to take what I've learned the past three years and help create the best team environment for the rookies and the rest of the team," Young says, "that's what I'm most excited for this season."

He then pauses and grins before adding, "That, and playing in the Final Four...but definitely the leadership thing."

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Players Mentioned

#2 Omari Young: MB; 6' 5"; Redshirt

Players Mentioned

#2 Omari Young
: 6' 5"; Redshirt
: MB

Players Mentioned

#2 Omari Young

Players Mentioned

#2 Omari Young